Preparation
Distillation begins with the vineyards, and quality grapevines are the key to making good arak. The vines should be very mature and usually of a golden color. Instead of being irrigated, the vineyards are left to the care of the Mediterranean climate and make use of the natural rain and sun. The grapes, which are harvested in late September and October, are crushed and put in barrels together with the juice (in Arabic El romeli) and left to ferment for three weeks. Occasionally the whole mix is stirred to release the CO2.
Numerous stills exist including stainless steel or coppe, pot and column stills that will affect the final taste and specificity of the arak. The authentic copper with a Moorish shape are the most searched after.
The finished product is made during the second distillation. The alcohol collected in the first distillation is distilled again but this time it is mixed with aniseed.The ratio of alcohol to aniseed may vary and it is one of the major factors in the quality of the final product. Another distillation takes place, usually on the lowest possible temperature.
For a quality arak, the finished spirit is aged in clay amphoras to allow the angel's share o evaporate and thus the remaining liquid is the most suitable for consumption. The aging process is around twelve months at El Massaya that owns the largest aging capacity in Lebanon.
Read more about this topic: Arak (drink)
Famous quotes containing the word preparation:
“It’s sad but true that if you focus your attention on housework and meal preparation and diapers, raising children does start to look like drudgery pretty quickly. On the other hand, if you see yourself as nothing less than your child’s nurturer, role model, teacher, spiritual guide, and mentor, your days take on a very different cast.”
—Joyce Maynard (20th century)
“Living each day as a preparation for the next is an exciting way to live. Looking forward to something is much more fun than looking back at something—and much more constructive. If we can prepare ourselves so that we never have to think, “Oh, if I had only known, if I had only been ready,” our lives can really be the great adventure we so passionately want them to be.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)
“With memory set smarting like a reopened wound, a man’s past is not simply a dead history, an outworn preparation of the present: it is not a repented error shaken loose from the life: it is a still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter flavours and the tinglings of a merited shame.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)